Joyce Summers
Joyce Summers is a fictional character in the action-horror television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Played by Kristine Sutherland, Joyce is the mother of the main character, Buffy Summers, and appears in 58 of the 144 episodes. The premise of the series is that Buffy is the latest Slayer, a young woman endowed by mystical forces with superhuman powers to fight and defeat vampires, demons, and other evil forces in the fictional town of Sunnydale. Like every Slayer before her, she was chosen and informed of her destiny when she was 15 years old. Her mother is unaware of her daughter's powers and responsibilities until Buffy is forced to tell her at the end of the second season of the television series. Although Joyce is shocked at this revelation, she recovers quickly and remains a source of stability for Buffy and Buffy's small circle of friends who assist her, dubbed the Scooby Gang. Eventually Joyce is able to take Buffy's dangerous demon-fighting in stride and even become proud and respectful of her daughter's abilities. Her natural death from an illness in the fifth season forces Buffy to face becoming an adult. Creation and casting The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (often simplified as Buffy) was created by Joss Whedon, who originally used the concept of a teenage girl who is given superhuman powers to fight evil, in a screenplay that became a film in 1992. Unhappy with the outcome of the film, Whedon created the series, which picks up shortly after the events of the film and is loosely based on its ending. At the end of the film, which was set in Los Angeles, Buffy fights and defeats a gang of vampires in her school's gymnasium. At the start of the television series Buffy and her mother Joyce, who has divorced Buffy's father, move to a new town named Sunnydale where Buffy is to attend Sunnydale High School, which, unknown to her, is situated on a portal to hell, called a Hellmouth. The series explains that she has relocated from Los Angeles after burning down the gymnasium, marking her as a trouble-making student and a worrisome daughter.Kaveny, p. 14.Stafford, pp. 2–6. The series regularly employs the elements of dark fantasy and horror to represent the real problems regularly encountered by adolescents, with many situations also reflecting adult fears and anxieties.Wilcox, p. 18. Buffy's parents are barely seen in the film, but her mother Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), plays a prominent role in the series. Sutherland, a fantasy fiction fan who dislikes the horror genre, had recently moved to Hollywood from New York City in 1996 and was not actively looking for acting jobs when her agent called her with the opportunity to play Joyce. Sutherland auditioned the same day as David Boreanaz, Buffy's romantic interest Angel, and was impressed with how naturally she felt at ease with the material in the readings with the writers and casting agents.Golden and Holder, pp. 213–217. Sutherland stated in an interview that she felt she identified strongly with adolescents. Her empathy for them made her protective not only of the actors, but their characters as well. However, a storyline that has Joyce possessed as the mother from hell was one of Sutherland's favorite possible scripts, but it was cut. Biography Early life Joyce had two sisters, Darlene (who would later live in Illinois along unspecified family) and Lolly (who made the curtains hanging in their Sunnydale house). Her niece, Celia, whom Buffy was very close to, died at a young age."Killed by Death" In high school, Joyce had a Gidget haircut and was on the yearbook staff. Joyce met Hank Summers at the prom during her freshman year of college. Joyce did not have a date, but Hank did."Prophecy Girl" The two married and had one daughter, Buffy Summers, who would become the Slayer. In Los Angeles, Hank and Joyce’s relationship eventually deteriorated. Their arguments included those about Buffy when she came home after her first slay."Becoming, Part Two" Hank and Joyce placed Buffy in an asylum after she was expelled for burning down the Hemery High School gym. Neither Hank or Joyce believed that Buffy was a vampire Slayer. Sunnydale In Sunnydale, Joyce managed an art gallery and maintained a close relationship with Buffy, although she was disappointed by some of Buffy’s behavior. Joyce was a protective and loving parent. She also became a maternal presence in the lives of Buffy’s friends, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris. When vampires attacked Sunnydale High School on Parent-Teacher Night, Joyce protected her daughter by attacking Spike with an axe after others fled the school. She was concerned about Buffy’s poor academic performance, but she was proud to discover that Buffy was a strong leader who took care of herself."School Hard" Joyce was disturbed when Angel turned into a stalker after losing his soul and returning to Angelus. She was even more upset when she learned that Buffy had lost her virginity to him. Joyce became increasingly frustrated with the distance between herself and her daughter. When police officers visited the house and informed her that Buffy was a murder suspect, Joyce feared the worst. She met Buffy, who was accompanied by Spike, outside their house. Buffy initially tried to convince her mom that she and Spike were in a band, but when the three were attacked by a vampire, Buffy staked him in front of her mom before leaving to save the world. Joyce reacted badly to this revelation and demanded that Buffy take the time to explain herself, going so far as to warn her not to come back to the house if she left. Taking her at her word, Buffy departed Sunnydale for Los Angeles. While Buffy was gone, Joyce worked with Rupert Giles and the Scooby Gang to locate her. She developed a close friendship with Pat, a woman from her book club who was later killed by zombies. Joyce was relieved when Buffy returned and wanted things to go back to normal. She tried to support Buffy’s extracurricular activities while also encouraging her to think about her future. After accompanying Buffy on patrol, Joyce fell under a demon’s spell, which drove her to lead Sunnydale on a witch hunt. She and others attempted to burn Buffy, Willow, and Amy Madison at the stake, and was later horrified at her actions."Gingerbread" Spike stopped by the Summers’ home when he returned to Sunnydale where Joyce lent a sympathetic ear as he related the details of his recent break-up, which earned his perpetual gratitude."Lovers Walk" Buffy had been Joyce’s only child. However, the Key, a mystical source of energy, was transformed into her new daughter, Dawn, in order for Buffy, who shared her blood, to protect her. The spell used to transform Dawn and keep her safe rewrote everyone’s memories. Later on, Joyce’s health deteriorated and she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Pressure from the tumor interfered with her mind and she temporarily lost mental clarity. At that time, Joyce recognized Dawn’s anomalous nature and confirmed with Buffy that Dawn was not her daughter by birth. Despite that, she loved and accepted Dawn as a member of the family and urged Buffy to do everything in her power to protect Dawn. Joyce’s health improved after a successful surgery, although her life was soon in danger again. Glorificus, a hell-goddess, sought a mystical key that could open inter-dimensional portals. Although Glory did not realize that the key was, in fact, Dawn, she knew that Buffy protected it. She threatened Buffy’s family, which forced Joyce and Dawn to temporarily stay with Spike for protection. She continued her friendly relationship with Spike and they watched the soap opera Passions together. Soon afterward, Joyce suddenly died from a brain aneurysm."I Was Made to Love You" Legacy Dawn, devastated by Joyce’s death to the point of irrationality and feeling abandoned by Buffy, who was picking up greater responsibilities and trying to avoid emotional breakdown, resorted to necromancy, despite Willow and Tara Maclay’s warnings. With help from Spike and Doc, she reanimated Joyce. However, Dawn realized the inherent dangers of what she has done and that her mother may return as a zombie, and broke the spell before Joyce could enter the house."Forever" After her own resurrection, Buffy was poisoned by a demon, which caused her to have visions where she was incarcerated in a Los Angeles mental institution, and nearly became convinced she wasn't a Slayer. Joyce appeared, still married to Hank, and attempted to convince her daughter to get over her apparent insanity. However, her message of strength ultimately led Buffy to fight against the poison and return to her save her friends in Sunnydale."Normal Again" The First Evil also took her form to contact Dawn and tried to drive a wedge between the Summers sisters."Conversations with Dead People" Years later, when cornered by the Scoobies, D'Hoffryn offered to grant them all one wish if they let him go; in Buffy and Dawn’s case, he offered to resurrect Joyce and make her healthy again. While they were tempted, they ultimately refused, knowing there would always be a catch.Own It, Part Five Personality Joyce was a stereotypical Californian mother, distant and reliant on "pop-psychology" techniques in raising her daughter, but well-meaning. She became more of a central figure, however, as she became more competent and sympathetic, as exemplified when she attacked Spike with an axe in order to protect her daughter. She was a warm, loving mother with a deep reserve of inner strength and a highly cynical and sarcastic streak, clearly inherited by her daughters. In stark contrast to Willow’s religious, absent-minded parents and Xander’s angry, bitter parents, Joyce was a constant maternal presence, acting as a mother and friend to all the gang. Joyce often bantered with Buffy and even held her own with Faith when the rogue Slayer held her hostage, sneering "Are you planning on slitting my throat any time soon?" in the middle of Faith’s monologue."This Year's Girl" She was a fan of the soap opera Passions (which she watched with Spike), the movie Thelma and Louise, and art (particularly African art). She was also a competent seamstress. Her favorite tipples were Schnapps and Kahlua and she was a fan of actor Burt Reynolds, the singer Juice Newton and the band ’Seals and Croft’. She likes waffles and may ski judging by the poles Oz found in her closet. She is a member of a book club and learned to cook Mexican food."Dead Man's Party" She hated potlucks, which she gave as a reason for not wanting a wake, and Jell-O, which, she confessed while in the hospital, "creeps her out". She often cared more about others than herself, being more concerned about Riley Finn than her medical condition. She had a friendly and motherly relationship with Spike, who claimed she was the only one he could stand. Spike paid his respects by anonymously leaving flowers. When Joyce reverted to her teenager years under the effects of the band candy (made by Ethan Rayne), she demonstrated an attraction toward mysterious bad boys like Ripper, a trait that was also apparent in her daughters. Relationships Romantic *'Hank Summers' — Joyce and Hank’s relationship ended around the time Buffy began slaying, due to disagreements about raising her and his affair with his secretary. After the divorce, Hank was allowed to spend weekends with his daughters where he and Joyce retained a mutual respect for each other when unpacking her suitcases."When She Was Bad" *'Ted Buchanan' — Joyce began dating the seemingly perfect software salesmen Ted after he revamped her computer system at the gallery. Although he gained the trust of her mother and her friends, Buffy became suspicious of Ted who threatened her over cheating at mini golf. Joyce, drugged by Ted’s cookies, dismissed Buffy’s claim and was rendered passively uncertain about what to do after Buffy seemingly killed him. After an encounter with the reawakened Ted and what the police discovered in Ted’s house along with what he did to his other wives, Joyce became apprehensive, still believing he would still jump out at her while not knowing his true nature as a robot. Since she was cautious of her daughter’s Slayer status, Joyce had presumably learned his real nature at some point."Ted" *'Xander Harris' — Along with the entire female population, Joyce fell under Xander’s love spell and attempted to seduce him at the Summers’ home, even employing a kitchen knife to break the door that kept her away from him."Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" Xander also once dreamed of Joyce wearing a red silk nightgown inviting him to her bedroom."Restless" *'Rupert Giles' — Joyce shared a temporary fling with Giles when they reverted to their teenage selves,"Band Candy" regretting it when returning to adulthood; she apparently likened his sexual performance to a stevedore when Buffy read her mind."Earshot" *'Dracula' — Joyce met Dracula when he came to Sunnydale in 2000, going out on a date for coffee together. She invited him back to her house, presumably while under his thrall."Buffy vs. Dracula *'Brian' — Before her death, she met a publisher named Brian who took her out for dinner and a movie. They had one date that went well, leading Joyce to tease Buffy by jokingly claiming to have left her bra at his car, then further tormenting her by saying it was actually left at the restaurant and then a dessert cart."I Was Made to Love You" Filial *'Buffy Summers' — Joyce’s relationship with her eldest daughter was fairly distant before learning that she was the Slayer. Buffy was met with constant disappointment from Joyce who disapproved of some of her choices and activities such as joining the cheerleading squad, dating Angel and especially leaving her for LA. Sometime after Buffy’s return to Sunnydale, Joyce became more supportive and more involved in her life, including her Slayer duties and her future beyond school. *'Dawn Summers' — Being her youngest, Joyce tended to baby Dawn, nicknaming Dawn as her "little pumpkin belly""No Place Like Home" and being over-protective of her, often putting the responsibility on Buffy, to her distress."Real Me" Even after finding out Dawn wasn’t actually her daughter, Joyce's love never wavered and insisted Buffy look after Dawn in case anything happened to her."Listening to Fear" *'Faith Lehane' — Faith thought highly of Joyce because of her motherly kindness in contrast to her own mother’s alcoholism and lack of care for her. Joyce in turn liked her positive stance on slaying as she potentially could of take over for Buffy when she went to college."Faith, Hope & Trick" Faith spent Christmas Eve at the Summers’ home at Joyce’s request and even brought her a present."Amends" When Faith held her hostage at her house, Joyce put on a strong face and stood up to the psychotic slayer. However, after Buffy came to the rescue, Joyce still felt sorry for Faith’s situation, knowing she was unhappy and wondering if she would be given help after her apparent arrest."Who Are You" *'Scooby Gang' — Joyce provided a surrogate mother figure to Buffy’s friends, happily making them Christmas dinner and showing equal concern for their problems. One example is when Willow received the call about Jenny Calendar’s death, Joyce held her as she cried over Buffy who was less affected."Passion" Her death strongly affected the group, including Spike because she treated him affably, and Anya Jenkins who Joyce could stand without being offended by her strange honesty."Blood Ties" Gallery Joyce Summers 01.jpg Joyce Summers 02.jpg Joyce Summers 03.jpg Joyce.jpg Joyce Summers 05.jpg Joyce Summers 06.jpg Buffy - Im Bann der Dämonen (25).jpg Joyce2.jpg Ted picture.jpg 2x11 002.jpg Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-20367845-500-606.jpg Giles-still34.jpg S5stills094.jpg S5stills102.jpg.jpg S5stills048.jpg Summers Out of My Mind 02.png Summers Out of My Mind 01.jpg S5stills014.jpg Behind the scenes *She was portrayed by Candy Clark and Kristine Sutherland. *Joyce has the most appearances of a recurring character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel, appearing in 58 episodes total, beating out Lilah Morgan (35), Jonathan Levinson (30) and Andrew Wells (28). *Joyce is the first of two characters (the other being Cassie Newton) to die of natural causes. *Joyce, similarly to Darla on Angel series, is the only non-regular character to appear in every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. *Kristine Sutherland knew she was going to die on the show since Season 3. *In the commentary for "Grave", writer/producer Drew Goddard observes that when Buffy was dead she was “in heaven with her mother”. *Joyce has the first line in the show, calling to a sleeping Buffy to wake up in "Welcome to the Hellmouth". *Kristine Sutherland said that she drew from her experiences to play Joyce: "My mother was a single mother and struggled with a lot of those same issues that I struggle with as Joyce. For the sense of deep love and connection I draw on my own feelings for my own daughter. In terms of trying to parent an adolescent and my relationship with my mother. I try to figure out those struggles, and try to get into that from her point of view." *Sutherland has explained how "People said to me before I knew she was the slayer, ’how can you not know that she’s a vampire slayer’. I did all kinds of things that my mother had no idea about. It didn’t seem strange at all to me that she didn’t know, because I think there’s a healthy amount of denial at a certain point. That’s important to have as a parent." *Sutherland commented on the character’s role in Season 3: "Now that I know she’s a vampire slayer, there’s so much to process. I think Joyce is struggling to find her place in Buffy’s life. There was a comfort level in the second season, that whatever Buffy was doing, she was on the right track. Finding out she was the vampire slayer just threw things right open, so I really struggled to find out what in her life I can share, and how to manage my sense of fear… It’s strange to recognize that your daughter is so different from you, that she’s this thing that you don’t really understand and in many ways is so powerful, yet is still a kid, Joyce still has to figure out when to look out for her, when she needs it and when she doesn’t." Appearances ;Buffy the Vampire Slayer *''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' film *"The Origin" *''The Long Way Home, Part Three'' *''After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back!'' ;Season Nine *''Welcome to the Team, Part Three'' *''The Watcher'' (Only in photograph) ;Season Ten *''I Wish, Part One'' *''I Wish, Part Two'' *''Freaky Giles Day'' *''Triggers'' *''In Pieces on the Ground, Part Three'' *''Own It, Part Three'' *''Own It, Part Five'' ;Buffy: The High School Years *"Freaks & Geeks" *"Parental Parasite" }} References Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters Category:Female characters in television Category:Fictional managers Category:Fictional deceased Category:Fictional characters from Los Angeles Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1997